European Audiovisual and Cultural Organisations Welcome the EU Parliament Adoption of its Position on the European Media Freedom Act
European professional organisations of the audiovisual and cultural sectors welcome the clarifications brought by the European Parliament on Article 20 of the European Media Freedom Act, voted in plenary on 3 October, that will prevent the provision of this article being used to challenge or weaken ambitious cultural policies set out by Member States to promote European audiovisual creation.
The improvements made by the European Parliament on Article 20 and recital 38 highlight the positive commitment of the Parliament to maintain obligations in favour of creation, taking into account the concerns of the audiovisual and cultural sectors.
In June, a broad coalition of 73 European and national organisations from the audiovisual and cultural sectors addressed the Commission, Council and Parliament with a joint letter expressing their concern that the Commission’s proposal for the European Media Freedom Act (Article 20) would embed national cultural policies into internal market rules, which could end up disrupting key policies implemented by Member States to support film and TV creation and local ecosystems.
The signatories welcome the improved text, with Article 20 now restricted to measures liable to affect media pluralism and the editorial independence of media service providers and recital 38 clarifying that the provision “does not aim to affect national measures implementing Directive 2010/13/EU, in so far as they do not affect media pluralism and editorial independence, national measures taken pursuant to Article 167 TFEU, national measures taken for the purpose of promoting European works or national measures which are otherwise governed by State aid rules.”
Full press release and list of signatories (pdf)
Signatories:
CEPI (European Audiovisual Production Association)
European Coalitions for Cultural Diversity
ECSA (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance)
FERA (Federation of European Screen Directors)
SAA (Society of Audiovisual Authors)
Euro FIA (European Group of the International Federation of Actors).
FSE (Federation of Screenwriters in Europe)
UNI MEI (UNI – Media, Entertainment and Arts)